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War of the Worlds (2005 film)
War of the Worlds is a science fiction film based on the novel by H.G. Wells. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg, and made its debut in the summer of 2005. This is one of four film adaptations of the novel. Plot summary The movie begins with a voice narrator (Morgan Freeman) talking about how Earth was being watched by another planet, with far advanced beings. A divorced man named Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) takes his weekend custody of his children, Rachel Ferrier (Dakota Fanning) and Robbie Ferrier (Justin Chatwin). The weekend starts out on a rough note, but things only get worse when an electric storm strikes Lincoln Street. The lightning is followed by electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) which cause a temporary interruption of all electronic devices in the area, literally bringing back the world to the 1800s. Ray walks to the site of the activity. Surrounded by many other curious citizens, the people watch the tripod come out from the ground. The machines begin to eliminate humans with their deadly Heat-Rays. Ray gets back to his home, and takes his children to their mother's house. When they arrive there, they realize that the house where they are at has not been hit yet. They sleep there overnight, while their mom, and ex-wife are on their way to Boston. In the middle of the night, they hear the lightning again. When they come out of hiding, they realize that it was not lightning, but a plane has crashed in their yard. They flee the sight, and drive in the car until the car is stolen by a man with a firearm. They walk to the Hudson Ferry and manage to get a ride, but only to be thrown by off by the predators. They make their way to a hillside where Robbie tries to join the battle being fought by the army. He joins the fight, but one big blow sends the whole battle into destruction. Rachel and Ray find shelter in the basement of Harlan Ogilvy. That night a probe visits the basement and a group of aliens. Oglivy attempts to kill one with his shotgun, but is stopped by Ray. The aliens leave the basement. Ogilvy is crazy about killing the invaders, which results in his death at the hands of Ray. Then another probe visits the basement and wakes Ray and Rachel. Ray hacks the head off it with an axe {like in the 1953 movie} and Rachel runs out of the basement on to the red weed covered ground. His daughter is taken by the invaders, and Ray sets out after them. After being captured by them, he destroys a tripod with a grenade, and makes his way to Boston. When they arrive, army men are everywhere. A still living tripod sees the group of survivors. Ray discovers that the tripods' shields are down. The army shoots them down with shells and the alien comes out dead. Ray brings his daughter to the location where her mother is. When he arrives, he learns that his son is there, and is safe. At the conclusion, the narrator states thatas soon as the Martians started using resources on our Earth, they died of bacteria, which humans (through the toll of a billion deaths) had been accustomed to. For neither do men live nor die in vain. Cast (Main characters) *Morgan Freeman as Narrator *Tom Cruise as Ray Ferrier *Dakota Fanning as Rachel Ferrier *Justin Chatwin as Robbie Ferrier *Tim Robbins as Harlan Ogilvy Reception In terms of box office success, the film earned $234.3 million domestically, $357.1 million overseas - a sum total $591.4 million, making it the 4th highest grossing movie of 2005. In terms of critics, the film was met with predominately positive reviews External links *Official site *Wikipedia:War of the Worlds (2005 film) Category:The War of the Worlds adaptations Category:Films